


everybody gets a kitten

by acefluff



Series: whatever our souls are made of [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Character, Asexual Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Fluff, Kitten, Other, Roommates, it's not stated but he is, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 21:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14839532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acefluff/pseuds/acefluff
Summary: Jihoon has a bad day, but then he finds a kitten.(part of a series but can be read alone)(title might change)





	everybody gets a kitten

**Author's Note:**

> In memory of Atticus who zoomed around the house when he was a kitten <3
> 
> Music for reading: Jeremy Messersmith's "11 Obscenely Optimistic Songs for Ukulele" album (especially Everybody Gets a Kitten, and also Dodie's cover of the song)

Jihoon was having a bad day. 

 

Everything that could possibly have gone wrong managed to actually go wrong; he overslept and didn’t have time for breakfast, he was late to his first class, his last class ran overtime causing him to miss his train, his cellphone was on 7% battery, he didn’t have enough money to get a cab, and now it was raining. _Just great._

 

The next train wouldn’t be for another hour, and Jihoon really didn’t feel like waiting around for it (especially if his phone was going to die and he couldn’t listen to music or play games), so he pulled his hood over his head, stuffed his hands in his pockets and started walking. Luckily the rain had calmed down to a light drizzle, so he was only partially soaked by the time he was almost home. He stopped at the convenience store down the road from his apartment to buy some snacks in an attempt to make up for the crappy day; he still had studying to do and he wasn’t sure he’d get through the rest of the afternoon without junk food. 

 

Jihoon stood under the awning outside the store and unwrapped the triangle kimbap he’d just bought and ate it in three bites, suddenly realising how hungry he actually was. Staying under the awning, he walked over to the dustbin at the corner of the building. Jihoon dropped the wrapper into the bin and froze when he heard a soft squeaking noise. 

 

He frowned, wondering if he’d imagined the sound when nothing happened. He was about to turn around and walk the rest of the way home when he heard it again, louder. 

 

_Probably a mouse or a rat,_ he thought. 

 

But then he heard the squeak again, clearer this time and sounding more like… a kitten?

 

Jihoon looked down the street in the direction of his apartment. He just wanted to get home. But the rain was barely falling now, and he couldn’t just leave the cat there (if there was, in fact, a cat there). He sighed and took a step into the alley next to the convenience store.

 

He glanced around, looking for any sign of movement. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw a cardboard box shudder, making a ripple in the puddle it was in. 

 

Jihoon crouched down by the box and slowly reached out to lift it up. 

 

As he moved the box he heard the noise again, louder and more distressed this time. 

 

And there, on a damp stack of old newspapers, was a tiny ginger kitten. 

 

The kitten’s paws were muddy, fur a little matted and missing in one patch, ribs sticking out more than they should. 

 

Jihoon’s heart sank at the sight of the trembling kitten. He reached out a hand and the kitten recoiled, ears pulled back. The drizzle started picking up again, but Jihoon stayed crouched in the alley until the kitten cautiously leaned in to sniff at his fingers. He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the kitten’s head with one finger. The kitten let out another sad little meow and pulled away again. JIhoon stayed still, hand still outstretched, until the kitten moved forwards to sniff him again and gently rubbed its cheek against his hand. Before he was even sure what he was doing, Jihoon had reached his other hand forward and scooped the kitten up into his arms. 

 

The kitten wriggled and mewed, clearly a bit afraid and not used to being held by a human, but Jihoon shushed it and kept gently stoking its head until it stopped trying to escape. He could feel the kitten trembling, from cold or fear he wasn’t sure, so Jihoon unbuttoned his jacked with one hand and then unzipped his hoodie, placing the kitten against his chest before pulling the zip up again so the kitten’s head stuck out under Jihoon’s chin. Even wrapped in his hoodie the kitten was shivering, but at least it would be warmer and less likely to escape. Jihoon kept one hand on the kitten to make sure it didn’t slip and headed back into the convenience store. 

 

The owner gave him a strange look, seemingly not very happy that he’d brought a cat into the shop, but didn’t say anything so Jihoon didn’t acknowledge it. He found the cat food and dug around in his pocket for the last of his cash, pulling out just enough to buy three sachets of wet food intended for kittens under six months (according to the packaging). 

 

He made his way over to the counter to pay, avoiding eye contact with the slightly scary looking owner. 

 

“You find that outside?” the owner asked, tilting his head towards the kitten as he rung up the cat food. 

 

“Yeah, it was hiding behind some boxes in the alley,” Jihoon explained, gently stroking the kitten’s head. 

 

The owner grunted. “What’re you gonna do with it?”

 

Jihoon shrugged and handed over the money. “I’m not sure yet.”

 

The owner pushed the cat food back across the counter and Jihoon shoved it into the shopping bag containing his snacks. 

 

“Well, if you aren’t gonna keep it then bring it back. I could use a cat to catch those damn mice that hang around out there at the dumpsters.”

 

Jihoon nodded, said he’d think about it (although he had no intention of doing so), and headed back out into the rain. 

 

The kitten dozed off as Jihoon walked, soothed by the swaying motion of his steps, and started purring softly, ears flicking when rain drops fell on them. 

 

Jihoon knew he should probably take the kitten to a shelter; it surely needed vaccinations, and it was still so small, probably not old enough to be without its mother yet. Even if he kept it, the kitten would still need a check-up and Jihoon would need some advice on how to look after it. And he’d have to get Soonyoung to agree to keep the kitten, which he didn’t think would be too difficult but sometimes his roommate surprised him. 

 

Jihoon knocked on the door when he got up to the apartment; with a shopping bag of snacks in one hand and the other holding the kitten to his chest he couldn’t reach for his keys. He heard footsteps and the click of the lock turning before Soonyoung opened the door, looking very confused but immediately shifting to elation when he saw the kitten. 

 

“Aww, you bought a cat!” Soonyoung exclaimed, his mouth falling open at the sight of Jihoon cradling the kitten in his hoodie. 

 

Jihoon pushed past his roommate to get into the apartment, dropping his food onto the kitchen counter and heading to the couch. 

 

“No,” he corrected. “I found a kitten.”

 

Jihoon shrugged his backpack off, leaving it next to the couch before heading to his bedroom. 

 

“Okay,” Soonyoung replied from the living room. “So, what are you going to do with it? Are we keeping it? Please can we keep it!”

 

Jihoon emerged from his bedroom, wet hoodie gone, now cradling the kitten in the crook of one arm and holding a towel in one hand and a dry sweatshirt in the other. 

 

“I don’t know yet.”

 

Jihoon sat down on the couch and gently started trying to dry the kitten’s fur. 

 

Soonyoung looked over the back of the couch and grimaced. “It’s kinda ugly.”

 

Jihoon glared up at his roommate. “Don’t be mean.”

 

Soonyoung shrugged. “It’s true.”

 

Soonyoung was right, but the kitten was a stray that Jihoon had found in an alleyway in the rain, so it was hardly going to be a well groomed pedigree cat. 

 

Jihoon rolled his eyes and wrapped the kitten in the towel and cradled it to his chest. “You were excited a minute ago, and he’ll get cuter after regular meals and a warm bed.”

 

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so soft before,” Soonyoung said with a grin, ignoring Jihoon’s statement.

 

Jihoon just glared at him again.

 

 

 

 

 

The kitten gobbled down a whole sachet of food and then fell asleep on Jihoon’s lap. 

 

“So, what do you know about taking care of a kitten?” Soonyoung called from the kitchen where he was defrosting a dinner that his mother had left in their freezer for them. 

 

“Absolutely nothing,”Jihoon replied, not taking his eyes off the kitten. “That’s what Google is for.”

 

Soonyoung laughed. “Okay, but you might still have to take it to a vet or something. Don’t pets nowadays get microchipped?”

 

Jihoon sighed and pulled out his phone to start researching what to do with the kitten. “One stepat a time, Soonyoung.”

 

 

 

 

 

After some internet searching Jihoon decided that taking care of a kitten would be easier than he’d first thought. Potty training the kitten might prove to be a challenge, but at least he’d bought the right kind of food and hadn’t given the kitten any milk. The one thing that was a bit more complicated was deciding where the kitten should sleep; Jihoon didn’t want to accidentally roll over onto the tiny thing in the night, so he found an empty box that he lined with a fluffy blanket and placed on the floor next to his bed instead. The kitten, however, seemed to already have bonded with him and mewled sadly until he lifted it out of the box and placed it on his pillow. The kitten nudged its head against Jihoon’s forehead before lying down and falling asleep. 

 

When Jihoon woke up the next morning and found that the kitten was purring and hadn’t moved from the pillow he knew he couldn’t part with it. 

 

He carried the kitten into the kitchen where Soonyoung was shoving energy bars into his dance bag, but dropped what he was doing and hurried over to stroke the kitten. 

 

“I think I’m gonna keep the kitten,” Jihoon said. 

 

Soonyoung didn’t even look up, still fussing over the kitten. “Yeah, I knew you wouldn’t want to let it go.”

 

Soonyoung held out his hands and Jihoon raised an eyebrow.

 

“Please let me cuddle the kitten?” Soonyoung pouted. 

 

Jihoon laughed. “Be careful. And gentle.”

 

Soonyoung nodded eagerly and grinned as Jihoon passed the kitten to him. 

 

The kitten meowed and looked around, a bit uneasy at being held by someone new, but as soon as Jihoon put his hand out for the kitten to sniff it calmed down, and in no time it was purring happily in Soonyoung’s arms.

 

“It likes me!” Soonyoung beamed. 

 

Jihoon looked over and smiled from where he was making coffee. 

 

“I’m going to take the kitten to the vet today, find out how exactly I should be looking after it,” said Jihoon. 

 

“You have classes,” Soonyoung reminded him.

 

Jihoon just shrugged. “I’ll ask someone to send me the work I miss.”

 

Soonyoung scolded him for skipping his classes to take the kitten to the vet, and Jihoon felt bad about bunking out of the lectures, but it was the first time all semester he’d missed any so he figured he’d be okay. Besides, he kind of needed to make sure the kitten was okay, and he didn’t think it was wise to leave the kitten alone all day while it was still so small. 

 

Getting to the vet clinic was interesting, because he didn’t have a cat carrier and nobody he or Soonyoung knew had their own car, so he tucked the kitten inside his jacket again and held it there for the whole subway ride, ignoring the strange looks the other passengers were giving him. 

 

The kitten (who remained calm and didn’t fuss when it was man-handled during the checkup) turned out to be a boy, and was also perfectly healthy aside from the obvious need to gain weight, and the vet assured Jihoon that the patch of missing fur would grow back soon. The vet gave Jihoon feeding instructions and ointment for the missing fur, and told him when to bring the kitten back for another checkup and vaccinations. 

 

“You just need a name now,” Jihoon mumbled to the kitten as he stepped out of the vet’s clinic. The receptionist had just put Kitten Lee on all the forms and told Jihoon that he could change the details next time. 

 

The kitten blinked up at him and snuggled into Jihoon’s chest again and slept for the journey home, even when Jihoon stopped at the grocery store to get cat food and a few toys. 

 

 

 

 

 

“What about Oliver?” Soonyoung suggested, watching the kitten swat at the little mouse toy that was hanging from the counter by a string. “Like that Disney movie.”

 

Jihoon shook his head. “He doesn’t look like an Oliver. He needs a cute name.”  
  
Soonyoung grinned at him, teasing. “What, like Tigger?”

 

“Shut up.”

 

 

 

 

 

The kitten remained nameless for the next week. 

 

Soonyoung kept calling him “It,” much to Jihoon’s annoyance, while Jihoon just called him The Kitten. 

 

“That’s no better than It!” Soonyoung argued. 

 

“That’s _so_ much better than It!” Jihoon replied. “ _The Kitten_ sounds like a title. _It_ sounds like you’re objectifying him.”

 

Soonyoung raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re kinda whipped for that cat.”

 

Jihoon glared at him. 

 

 

 

 

 

When the kitten started putting on weight and growing he also got more active. 

 

Instead of sitting calmly next to Jihoon while he worked, the kitten spent the day running around the living room, chasing his tail, climbing up the back of the couch, and then walking over Jihoon’s laptop and typing gibberish. Jihoon abandoned his revision to keep the kitten occupied, because he couldn’t focus with the distraction and playing with the kitten was more fun, and returned to his work when the kitten had tired himself out later in the day. 

 

Another internet search assured Jihoon that it was a phase, something he was quite relieved to learn. 

 

One evening, Soonyoung arrived home after dance class and found Jihoon dozing on the couch with the kitten on his chest. Jihoon looked up when he heard the front door click shut and gently lifted the kitten off his chest and onto the couch so he could join Soonyoung in the kitchen. 

 

“Long day?” Soonyoung asked with a grin as he began to unpack the takeaways he’d picked up on the way home. 

 

Jihoon sighed. “Oh my God, this kitten has so much energy! He never keeps still anymore.”

 

“He looks pretty calm now,” said Soonyoung, craning his neck to look into the living room at the sleeping kitten. 

 

“Yeah, he’s sleeping _now_ because he tired himself out by zooming around the apartment all afternoon.”

 

They carried their food over to the coffee table and sat down on the couch to watch TV while they ate. The kitten yawned and sleepily made his way over to headbutt Soonyoung before climbing onto Jihoon’s lap and falling asleep again. 

 

“Are you tired from all your zooming around, zoomy?” Soonyoung cooed as he stroked the kitten. 

 

“Zoomy?” Jihoon laughed. 

 

Soonyoung shrugged. “You said he zoomed around, so…”

 

Jihoon brushed a finger over the kitten’s head, making him flick his ears. “Zoom?”

 

The kitten stretched, curled up again, and started purring. 

 

Jihoon looked up at Soonyoung, matching grins on their faces. 

 

“I think the kitten has a name.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to keep adding to this series when I have ideas for it, which might not be too often but it will happen. 
> 
> I also want to update 'to wear love on your skin' but I have a lot of writing to do for my final project before I graduate (including an article portfolio, a 15 page essay and two worksheets of questions) so that'll happen when it happens...
> 
> twitter: @woozifluffle


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